Blue Tears
by SmileyButterflyy
Summary: Beth Greene led a normal life with her best friends Tara and Rosita until the day a grey Ford pickup cut her off on her way to school. The drivers, the Dixons, came to Oykot to protect the ancient chaos from ever seeing the light of day, but –unknowingly– Beth released it from its seal. Now she needs to track down what she release or risk those she loves. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first Walking Dead /strongstrongfan fiction, so please be nice! This is an AU of mine, and it'll take a chapter or two to get the ball rolling, but I promise it'll be worth it! I do not own the Walking Dead characters, story, etc.**

**Chapter 1**

Zrrpka. Zztshhhzzzz.

"Gosh darnit," Beth mumbled under her mouth as she fumbled with the tuning knob of the radio. "Why now?"

Beth gave up and tucked her white blond hair behind her ear in frustration. She had just replaced the radio last week, and now it couldn't pick up a station! She'd have to drive back down to Abraham's Shop and chew him out for it.

Beth leaned back in her seat and concentrated on the road as it rolled out in front of her. The town of Oykot was a small town, but not small enough that you could learn every person by name. Beth kind of liked that about the town; especially the old library downtown, it was fashioned after old English architecture –it seemed like Belle from Beauty and the Beast would come out with her nose stuck in a book. Beth grinned widely at the thought.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed an incoming car cutting in front of her just in time to slam the breaks as a grey Ford pickup truck slid in. She beeped her horn, causing birds on the nearby telephone line to take flight.

"Dam car," she mumbled.

A hand appeared from the driver's side and gave a wave, a silver ring glinting in the morning light. The car itself appeared to be well taken care of with it's sleek paint and rims. The hand receded back into the car and sped away, turning left and disappearing behind the foliage of the trees.

If no one is around to hear one swear, does she make a sound? Heck yeah. Beth swore deeply and glared murderously after the car as she turned right into downtown Oykot.

Downtown held a variety of bake and coffee shops, clothing outlets, and of course the town hall. But she rarely visited those, she made her own food and the clothes there didn't interest her like it did for the other girls. Downtown also held Oykot High, which was where Beth went to school.

Oykot High was originally a church, it had been renovated since then, but it continued to hold much of the same charms and structure.

Beth pulled into the parking lot and parked easily into a decent spot. She leaned to the passenger seat to grab her backpack and glanced out her windshield at the passersby. Most were wearing shorts –it was only early fall in Alabama– and hung around the Quad.

The Quad was probably the only place in the school that you could find all types of students milling around. It had enough shade to cover half it's area and had easy entrances to the school. If you were running late, you'd definitely take a shortcut through the Quad.

Beth checked her reflection in her mirror and adjusted her pink lacey crop-top to stretch a bit closer to her top of her high-waist shorts. She grinned widely and hopped out of her rusty Ram truck, slamming the door with her hip.

"Boom, clap the sound of my heart. The beat goes on and on and on. Boom clap…" Beth went on singing the song as she walked towards the Quad, though her voice died down as she stepped on the sidewalk. People bustled around her as they tried to get to their group of friends.

"Beth! Hey Beth!" Beth turned her head around, searching for the familiar voice of Tara. She spotted her and Rosita lounging on the grass in the shade of a tree. Beth jogged lightly over to them, slowing down as she reached them.

Rosita wore a dark green shorts and a chocolate brown tank-top with a bedazzled skull that had it's jewels picked off. She had her army style hat slung low over her eyes as she seemed to be taking a nap. Tara wore a red, plaid shirt open with a white cami underneath and black shorts.

"Hey guys," she breathily gasped out. "What's up?"

Rosita pointed her index finger to the sky, hat still covering her face, but not enough to miss the grin. "Clouds, atmosphere, birds, take your pick."

"You forgot the stars in the sky and planets." Tara added jokingly.

Rosita grinned, "Or the galaxies that stretch on beyond that."

Beth snorted and rolled her eyes at them as she plopped down next to Tara.

Tara took on a more serious tone. "But actually, my older sister moved back to town with her daughter and husband. I'll introduce you guys later on this week."

Rosita showed a thumbs up; Beth calpped excitedly. "Should I make a cake or something? What would she like?"

Tara thought a moment. "Double layer chocolate fudge cake."

Rosita lifted her hat from her face and looked questionably at Tara. "Isn't that your favorite?"

"Yeah? So?" Tara stuck her tongue out at Rosita, who flipped her off/

"Okay, chocolate cake it is." Beth looked out into the parking lot then back at her friends. "Hey guys? Have either of you two ever seen a grey Ford pickup truck around town?"

Rosita propped herself up on her elbows and fixed her hat on her head. "No. I'd've definitely heard about a car like that."

"Or from your guy." Tara said.

Rosita huffed. "Abraham isn't my guy."

Beth smiled, "I don't believe I heard her mention Abraham's name."

Tara and Beth smiled with a sense of success at their friend. Rosita redden a bit and leaned back on the grass, putting her hat back over her face. "You guys are impossible."

Tara held out her fist to Beth, "Impossibly amazing!"

"And gorgeous," Beth finished as she fist bumped Tara. "But seriously, that car almost had me off the road! Then the guy went and waved at me like I had waved him ahead of me! What the heck!" Beth ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, "I'm just glad he turned left out of town."

Tara's mouth fell open in a small 'O' as she listened to Beth's story. She shook her head, "I definitely don't know about a –hey Beth?"

"What?"

"Was it that car?" Tara pointed behind Beth to the left.

Beth twisted around to gaze into the parking lot. Sure enough, there was the same Ford pickup truck that had cut her off just ten minutes before. "Yeah, what's it doing here? I saw it turn left out of town."

"Then he's definitely new in town. He probably got lost," Tara looked to Beth, "What are you going to do?"

Beth looked back at the car, then down into her lap. She fiddled with a loose strand of her shorts, "Well… I don't know the guy." Beth looked up into Tara's questioning eyes, "So I guess I'll forgive, but I definitely won't be driving near him anytime soon." Tara and Beth convulsed with laughter, even Rosita laughed a bit from under her hat.

"So who's the driver then?" Tara questioned, she sat up on her knees and tried to see into the parking lot. "I don't- Oh! I see someone!"

Beth instantly looked up and spotted a guy walking fast away from the lot towards the front entrance. She couldn't see much besides the fact that he was wearing holed jeans and a sleeveless vest with angel wings on the back. The trees blocked Beth getting a better look at him as he walked into the school.

"–eth? Beth!" Tara nudged Beth with her toe. "Earth to Beth!"

Beth blinked and turned back to Tara. "What?"

"Did you get a good look? What did you see?"

Beth shrugged. "Not much, just that he's wearing jeans and he has wings on his back."

Rosita chuckled and sat up, she looked at Beth, a teasing look in her eyes. "So he's your guardian angel then?"

Tara cracked up, rocked back and forth as she gripped her sides. "He probably would be!"

Beth giggled, "Totally," she said sarcastically, "That's why my angel nearly ran me over!" Beth laid down on the grass and looked up into the leaves of the tree. "What if there was an guardian angel looking out for me?"

Tara appeared over her head, her hair tickling her cheeks. "Better late then never!"

The bell gonged overhead, making the students milling around in the Quad scatter. Tara stood up and offered a hand to Beth, which she took. Beth straightened her outfit out once more and looked to Rosita and Tara.

Rosita fluffed her pig-tails a bit as she stuffed her hat into her bag. Tara slung her backpack over her shoulder, looking at the school with distain.

The three of them all walked into Oykot High, parting ways at the overarching wooden door. Rosita headed off for wood tech while Tara and Beth headed for Acc. Intro to Cal.

"Sooooo," Tara drawled. "What's up with… your sister?"

Beth shrugged, Maggie had graduated last year and moved out to attend a big university somewhere. Maggie was going for a degree in Drama and English Literature. "She's good. She's still at college. I think she's in the middle of trying out for the play they're putting on."

"Cool, what play?" Tara's hands gripped her backpack straps and she twisted them in her hands. Beth looked at her confused, "Romeo and Juliet? I think she's trying for Rosaline or Juliet's understudy. Maybe both."

Tara nodded and changed the topic to music, which Beth instantly jumped on.

"Have you heard of Charli XCX's new song "Doing It"? It sounds nice, I think it could make the dance playlist."

Tara guffawed, "Have you seen the music video for it?"

"No…" Beth giggled, "Is it bad?"

"Remember "Booty" by J-Lo and Iggy Azela? Totally objectification for men and women! It like a joke. Even Charli and Rita can't take it seriously when these two cops rips their shirts off and start riding a bull!"

Beth clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the oncoming cackle. "What?" she gasped. "Oh my gosh! HA!" she clapped her hands together. "Oh how can a good song have such a bad video."

Tara smiled and shrugged. "I don't know, but I'd definitely at least make a with finesse. Not any of that weird shit they have going on in videos like that."

Beth raised an eyebrow and tried to look skeptical, but failed and ended up laughing. "Really now? But don't you need a song to go along with that?"

"Yeah… would you write one for me?"

Beth blinked and came to a stop a meter away from their classroom door. "You want me to?"

Tara stopped next to her and shrugged. "Well you always sing, and you're a boss at the guitar. Why not? Rosita could help too, I know she knows karate, which would be a sweat background dance."

Beth tried to imagine a background dance with karate and only came up with "Kun Fu Fighting". It wouldn't really fit in with her style of writing… She looked back into Tara's hopeful face and found herself nodding. "Give me a bit of time, I'll figure something out for a song."

Tara's face broke out into a wide grin as she jumped up and down. She practically skipped into the classroom and into her seat. Beth followed in after her and sat next to her desk.

"Do you know what happened to Tara over the weekend? Last week she went from over the moon to crashing, and now she's over the moon again." Beth sent the text to Rosita and looked up in time for the teacher to walk in and start class.

Mrs. Holden walked in, her high blond ponytail swinging as she walked. She turned around, mouth open as if expecting someone to be behind her and stopped short. She walked back to the hall and whispered softly. The class mumbled to themselves at her weird behavior.

Beth turned to Tara who was craning her neck to see beyond Mrs. Holdon into the hall. "Do you think it's that guy I saw? The one with wings?" Beth whispered softly.

"Probably." Tara whispered back. "We'll find out now I guess."

Mrs. Holden called the class to be quiet. "Now everyone, I'd like you all to meet Daryl Dixon. He's just moved here and will be joining our class for the remainder of the school year. Please treat him nicely."

Behind Mrs. Holdon entered a guy with long brown hair and broad shoulders. He wore a cut-off vest and holed jeans. Beth was more than willing to bet that he had wings on his back. He stood in the doorway, shoulders clenched together as if he didn't think his broad shoulders were narrow enough to fit through the door frame.

Daryl's mouth twitched and cemented into a frown. He mumbled under his breath, to which Mrs. Holdon almost deflated. She gestured to the classroom and walked up to the blackboard. "Alright, now take out your notes, let's talk about Dilations and Reflections of our graphs."

But no one was really paying her much attention, the class watched as Daryl made his way the farthest seat from the class. He kept his eyes towards the ground until he slumped in his chair. Beth finally turned her attention to Mrs. Holdon, wondering what color eyes Daryl had under that mass of hair.

After class, Beth gathered her books and stepped outside into the hallway with Tara. They waited off to the side and watched for Daryl, though Tara didn't know that was what they were doing. They typically waited for Rosita to meet up with them.

When Daryl came out, he looked left and right down the hall. Almost surveying them. Beth watched as his arms tensed and his feet shift uneasily. He looked straight ahead at Beth and slunked off down the hall.

Beth looked after him, engrossed in how he walked so silently down the hall when she expected for him to clomp his feet. She closed her eyes as if that could help her hear his foot falls, but she couldn't. When she opened her eyes again she saw Daryl was looking back at them.

"I wonder what his story is. Beth?" Tara waved her hand in front of Beth's nose. Beth looked at her and smiled sheepishly. Tara sighed and repeated her comment.

Beth's brows knitted together as she considered. "Whatever it is… he'll tell when he's ready to."

Tara frowned and shrugged lightly. "Ah well– Ah! Rosita!" Tara waved excitedly to Rosita down the hall. "Wait till I tell you about the new guy!" Tara walked forward, grabbing and dragging Beth behind her.

"New guy?" The three of them gathered at the side of the hallway, "You mean the one with a prosthetic arm?"

Tara and Beth gaped at Rosita and shook their heads. Tara filled them in on Merle, Daryl Dixon's brother, and they told Rosita about Daryl and how he acted in class.

"I'm pretty sure Mrs. Holden was ticked about his quiet reaction." Tara drawled. "It was kind of cool the way he did that."

Beth nodded. "So what did you say about a guy who had a prosthetic arm?"

Rosita shifted her books from one arm to another. "Yeah, so this guy –Merle was his name– just transferred with his brother, who I guess is your Daryl. He went on about how he lost the arm, but the way he described it–" Rosita shivered in disgust. "To be honest I stopped listening."

Beth wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that doesn't sound like the best story to tell on the first day."

"So… you guys see the new Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk" video?" Tara smiled as Beth imitated Bruno under the hair dryer.

The three girls went down the hall to their physical education class, or as Tara and Rosita called it, Olympic tryouts. Tara had teased Rosita for years before Rosita called gym that herself. When Rosita rolled with that joke, the two ended up rolling with it. Beth wasn't much of an athlete like Rosita, but she had a voice loud enough to cheer for Rosita from a football field away.

They stepped out onto the field and were waved forward by Coach T-Dog. "LADIES! WE'RE STARTING EARLY! HURRY AND GET CHANGED."

Rosita broke out into a run, laughing as she left the other two behind. "Come on slowpokes." She called over her shoulder.

Tara broke out into a run; Beth laughed as Rosita faked slowing down only to outstrip Tara in a heartbeat. Beth spread her arms out wide and tilted her face to the sun. "It's a beautiful day and I can't stop myself from smiling. If we're drinking, then I'm buying, and I know there's no denying~" Beth twirled as she made her way to the locker room and Coach T-Dog. During a spin, Beth's eyes spotted a black figure standing off in the shade of the school's entrance. She stopped suddenly, trying to focus her eyes on the figure, but by the time her vision stopped spinning there was nothing there.

"BETH!" screamed Coach T-Dog. "GET IN HERE AND CHANGE!"

"Coming!" Beth called back, ripping her eyes away from the arch and jogging over to the locker rooms.

**Tell me what you liked in the comments! I may post again quicker depending ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again :) Thanks for the words of encouragement. Seeing a positive review will bring a smile onto any writer's face. **

**Thank you for keeping with me and reading! I do not own Walking Dead.**

**Chapter 2**

Oykot High School's locker room was a cold metal hole in the ground. The walls were literally pressed stone; sometimes Beth wondered how such a gorgeous school could have such an ill looking locker room. Sure, it was a locker room, but shouldn't places have standards?

Rosita was in the midst of changing into her gym clothes as Beth walked in the locker room. Around them, a dozen of other girls were also switching into the mandatory white shirt and bright green shorts – Oykot's school colors.

Beth opened locker 26 and pulled out her sports bra and gym clothes. "Isn't running fun?" she said jokingly.

Rosita cracked a smile. "It really is when you actually run." She gave Beth a look as she pulled her shirt over her head.

"I'll keep to my cheer section of one, thank you very much. Go Shamrocks!" Beth slipped her brown cowboy boots off, followed by her shorts as she slipped into her gym clothes. Tara appeared from the bathroom stalls as the girls filtered out and Beth and Rosita finished changing.

"Hey guys." Tara greeted. "Almost done there slow pokes?" She opened her locker and roughly stuffed her normal clothes into it.

Rosita tilted her head, over pouting her lips like Regina George. "Remind me again, who won the race?"

Beth and Tara cracked up at her impression. "You had a head start, race becomes invalid." Tara gasped as she closed her locker door and leaned against the lockers.

Rosita rolled her eyes and walked towards the locker room door that lead to the field. "Coming guys? We don't want to be late."

Beth finished up lacing her shoes and ran to catch up to Rosita, Tara right behind her. The three girls entered the field together, wandering over to the left and away from the group of guys playing around with a soccer ball.

From out of nowhere, a voice shouted, "Watch out!" Just in time for the girls to turn and be greeted by a spiraling soccer ball. Beth reacted and blocked her face like she was bumping a volleyball, hands wrapped around each other and arms parallel and in front of her face.

The force of the ball against her arms caused Beth to rock backwards and into Rosita and Tara, who responded and caught her before she even had a chance to topple over further. The ball bounced and rolled away down the soft sloping hill down into the school. Beth stood back up and rubbed her arms absentmindedly gingerly. "Not everyday a ball nearly smacks you in the face right?"

Upon confirmation that Beth was fine, Tara charged right into the class of guys who had been playing with the ball in the first place. She was like a bull heading for a red flag in the way she charged and got distracted by the surrounding boys pledging for forgiveness.

"It's okay!" Beth shouted. "Tara! I'm fine!"

Tara turned at the sound of her voice, fists clenched.

"I'm fine Tara!" Beth repeated, shouting a bit louder.

Tara glared at the guys. "You sure?"

Beth laughed uneasily, a bit of relief that Tara didn't break a guys nose– like she did last year for them catcalling them as they walked downtown. "Thank you, but yeah I'm sure."

Tara gave the guys one more piercing look as she walked back to Rosita and Beth.

"Guys are idiots," Rosita quipped. "Forget them Tara." Rosita started walking slowly back to the field, waiting for Tara and Beth to catching

"Definitely, it there even a normal guy here? They're all a pain." Tara complained.

Beth shrugged, "If we were all normal, life would be super dull."

"I couldn't imagine that– how boring that would be." Rosita said thoughtfully.

Beth shrugged, crossing her arms to avoid rubbing them. "What is normal anyway? It's just what everyone expects. If we all acted the same it'd go crazy!"

"Um… excuse me?" came a nervous male voice? The girls turned to see Miguel shifting nervously from foot to foot. "Do you –ah– ladies know where the –ah– ball went?"

Tara took a half step forward, but Rosita's hand on her shoulder held her back. Rosita turned to Miguel and shook her head. "Sorry, but we didn't notice where the ball went."

Beth looked down at her arms and remembered the feel of the ball as it came at her from the right, ricocheting from her arms, and continuing on … to… "The left!" she exclaimed aloud, drawing the eyes of the others. "Oh! I –um – I think I know where the ball went… I'll go see!"

Before either Tara or Rosita could tell her otherwise, Beth jogged off to the left off the pitch and towards the school. The school was not entirely a church, as Beth would like to believe. Much of it had been internally gutted, leaving one wing moderately the same shape as it had been built, which was the appendage of the school Beth suspected the ball had bounced and rolled into.

Her light jog turned into a fast run as the hill forced her to pick up the pace. She slowed down enough to come to a full stop halfway under the door's archway. She glanced around for the black and white ball before spotting it more to her right. Beth walked quickly over to it, her high ponytail swinging behind her.

All of a sudden a strong gust of wind picked up, blowing her into the wall to her left, and causing her hair to fall in front of her face. She flipped it back and found the ball to have disappeared.

"What in the world?" Beth ran forward, looking at the spot the ball had been; then, off to the left. There was a door standing wide open, swinging lightly from the gust. Beth peeked inside and saw the ball directly ahead. Relieved, Beth walked quickly forward and grabbed the ball.

The hairs all over her body stood on end. Whatever was up with the room, she didn't like it one bit. She glanced around, noticing the musty smell and coating of dust over the shelves of books and armchairs. There weren't any windows, only old-school oil lanterns on the walls. The lack of light made the further, darker depths of the place ominous, like a monster would jump out and grab hold of her.

Beth gripped the ball tightly to her. Her legs were growing weak, and she felt like she wanted to run and cry at the same time.

"What is this place?" She whispered to herself. "Isn't this wing supposed to be taken care of? Cleaned? Lite in the very least?"

To her fright, a soft, reserved male voice responded. "That my dear is a simple answer."

Beth's heart jumped in her throat as she faced a strange black man dressed in a black cloak. He smiled gently at her and held his hands open, palms up. "I didn't mean to frighten you, but it did not seem appropriate to knock either, seeing as I am in charge of this part of the school."

Beth wrapped her arms tightly around the ball, her heart slowly descending from her esophagus. "So… who are you? Why does the wing look like this?"

The man glanced at the inside of the room, staying behind the doorway. He chuckled softly ad waved his hand towards himself. "Not the entire wing child. Now come out child, and we can talk better."

Beth stayed where she was. "Why? Who are you?"

The man's eyes flashed with something, fright maybe. "I am Father Gabriel, I leave the room alone for good reason, and if you do not come out of there I will take you to Principal Philip for trespassing in a locked room."

Beth came forward meekly, stepping out into the hallway as Father Gabriel hurriedly shut the door behind her –muttering under his breath all the while. He turned around to Beth, face grim and hands clasped together. "I do not want to see you near this room again, do you understand?" He waited for Beth to nod before relaxing his tense shoulders and smiling gently. "Good, now off you go."

Confused and rather frightened by the confrontation, Beth side-stepped away until she was on the grass. "By the way… The door was open, not locked."

Father Gabriel simply raised his eyebrows in response. "My mistake. Perhaps I left the door unlocked."

Beth nodded slowly, not believing him in the slightest. She took one more glance at the worn looking door, and took off back up the hill. She felt like if she had raced with Tara and Rosita, she'd have easily surpassed Rosita.

In her four years at Oykot High, she had never met a Father Gabriel, or any father at that. She had always assumed the wing was under constant consideration for renovation to accommodate the growing number of students, but the plan was always shut down. Maybe that weird man was why.

Whoever he was, or whatever that room was, Beth promised to never go back there. Not because of the warning, but because of the odd feeling she felt there. There was something wrong with that place.

Beth crossed the pinnacle of the hill and hit the field running; she only slowed down when she saw Tara and Rosita playing soccer on the field. Beth could still feel her knees, they felt like a soft tap would make them give beneath her.

"Beth?" came the familiar voice of Miguel. Beth turned and saw Miguel jogging towards where she had stopped off the soccer part of the field. His face fell a bit when he came close. "Are you okay?"

Her head was in a mid-nod when she blacked out.

Every part of her body was sore: her elbows and knees; her shoulders and hips; her neck and ankles. Her eyes were especially heavy as she tried to open them. Beth rolled her head to the side and cracked her eyes open, expecting to see her bedside clock and instead seeing Rosita and Tara lounging in chairs, half asleep by the looks of them.

"Tara? Rosita? Why are you in my room?" Beth looked more around her, noticing the white curtains and walls. "This isn't my room is it?"

Both Tara and Rosita sat upright and leaned forward, closing in on Beth. The two started bombarding her with questions in an instant.

"Are you okay?" Tara questioned.

"Does anything hurt?" Rosita's hand fluttered over her blanket.

"How many fingers?" Tara held up her thumb and index fingers, "No wait, don't answer that."

Beth looked between the two of them, her brain slowly processing what they said. "Um… I don't know. I'm definitely sore. And Tara, one finger and a thumb, so one finger."

Tara grinned widely. "You can't be to bad if you can joke around."

Beth's eyelids grew heavy, so she laid back into her pillows. "Not to sure about that. What time is it? Where am I, and why?"

Rosita leaned her elbows on her knees. Beth just came to realize that the two were changed back into their normal clothes. "Well… it's fourth hour, you missed all of third. You're in Nurse Chambler's office, and you're here because you passed out on the field–"

"–eye rolling back in your head blackout!" Tara divulged. She gave a sheepish look to Rosita who was glaring at her.

Rosita continued like there had been no interruption. "You started screaming and kicking, which is weird for a blackout. Anytime either of us came near you, you lashed out. You had to be restrained and carried away. Daryl ended up doing it actually, and I'm pretty sure you whacked him every place you could."

"Daryl?" Beth turned her face to them, looking between them in surprise. "Why did he carry me?"

"No one could restrain you." Tara exclaimed. "Then Daryl comes up grips your wrists and ankles and basically swings you across his shoulders! It was like you weighed nothing!"

Beth sat there taking it all in. She had blacked out… but why? And what had happened before? She had went to get the ball… Had she met someone? She felt she had… Beth furrowed her brows in frustration. "Why did I black out? And why can't I remember?"

Rosita shrugged. "Nurse Chambler said it could have something to do with drinking, but we know that's not the case." She watched Beth carefully at the mention of drinking: she knew that her dad would sometimes have a bit to much to drink, but Beth's expression did not change.

Tara stood up and headed for the door. "Ms. Chambler? Beth is awake."

Within seconds, Tara stood back to let Nurse Chambler in. She was a pretty woman in her thirties, and she wore a white nurse outfit and had her hair in a bun. Nurse Chambler surveyed Beth from the foot of her bed before approaching.

"You gave us all a scare there Miss Greene. How do you feel?" She put the back of her hand to Beth's forehead and nodded her approval. "You're cooler than before, which is good."

Beth focused on how her body felt; then, she pulled out her wrists. There were light discoloration there –probably from when Daryl carried her. She rubbed them absentmindedly and she sat up to uncover the rest of her body. Her elbows and knees were bruised, and her ankles and feet hurt a bit. She told Nurse Chambler all of this while her friends sat there awkwardly.

Nurse Chambler nodded and thought for a moment. "On occasion, when someone is under stress, they can blackout. Do you remember what had happened before?"

Beth shook her head sadly. "I think I met someone… but I can't be sure, and … I think I was scared."

"You couldn't've met anyone." Tara interjected. "That part of the school is practically abandoned! It's used for storage now bascially."

Nurse Chambler looked at Tara for a moment before turning to Beth with a puzzled expression. "Well if you remember anything, tell me. But for now, stay away from there if something scared you. I'll talk to Principal Philip about that person you met."

Beth nodded, feeling her eyes grow heavy. She really wanted to go back to sleep.

Nurse Chambler smiled, as if she had read Beth's mind. "Why don't you go back to sleep? Come get me when you feel rested and want to go back to class. Sound good?" Nurse Chambler stood up at Beth's nod and exited the room, but she popped back in a second to tell Tara and Rosita that since Beth was fine, they should go back to class.

Rosita patted Beth's head goodbye while Tara hugged her gingerly. The two left the room, promising to get any homework she'd need.

Beth laid back on the bed, exhaustion flooding over her. What had made her faint? What in the world had she felt afraid of? It was the strangest thing.

Of course she would have to go back and find out.

**I hope you liked the chapter! I did not mention before, but this is a Bethyl. It will, however, take a while for the two to become close as you may have seen that Daryl is his quiet self. The two will bond, for now though, it'll focus on Beth and her interactions with friends.** **I'll be sure to post again within the next few days! If there are more reviews, then I'll post earlier :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**There will most likely be confusion in the chapter, but imagine being in Beth's shoes– she doesn't know what's what either. Things will be explained later on, so enjoy and think about what's going to happen :)**

**I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters.**

**Chapter 3**

Though it did not seem like it to Beth, she slept for another two hours right up to the end of the school day. Nurse Chambler came in to wake her up by gently shaking her shoulder.

"Miss. Greene?" Beth stirred at the voice, blinking slowly before fixing her gaze on Nurse Chambler. "There we are. Are you feeling better?"

Beth sat up and rubbed her eyes wearily. "A bit; I still can't remember anythin'. What time is it?"

The nurse nodded and gestured to the clock above the door, which Beth had been to rattled to notice. "School is over and I tried calling home, but there wasn't an answer. Are your parents at work?"

Maybe Nurse Chambler didn't know. Beth opened her mouth to say her mother had passed on and that her father often was too busy working this time of day to answer the phone; he owned his own farm and had only a few farmhands. Beth opted for a shrug, because it wasn't surprising to hear that.

"It's fine. I think if I just walk around a bit, I'll be fine." To prove her point, Beth flipped the blankets over and put her sock covered feet on the cold wooden floor. She surveyed the floor, not seeing what should be there. "Where are my shoes?"

Nurse Chambler pursed her lips in disapproval. "Shoes?" She bent down to check under the bed. "I think they're just– found them!" She pulled them from the underside of the bed. "And are you sure you're okay with not being picked up?"

Beth smiled warmly as took her shoes and slipped into them. "Thanks for the concern, but he's most likely busy. I don't wanna bother him."

"I'm sure you wouldn't be." Nurse Chambler said tenderly.

Beth giggled, thinking about how her dad would probably rush into his pick-up with a shovel in his hands and travel half-way to town before remembering he had it with him. When he came he'd probably demand to know everything and get it told to him by both Beth and Nurse Chambler. He might even want to check his little girl's bruises himself. "Oh, I know he wouldn't, but he would definitely freak out a bit."

Nurse Chambler nodded and didn't say anything else; her phone rang from the inside of her pocket. She slid it out of her pocket and frowned. "I'll just be a second, it's my daughter Meghan. She probably missed the bus home."

She walked away, phone to her ear. Beth decided now would be the time to leave. Maybe change into her normal clothes and go back down to the abandoned wing.

Beth stepped out into the wooden hall, slipping past the straggling students who didn't ride the bus home. She waved to a few familiar faces; acting like walking down the halls after school in her gym uniform was totally normal.

Halfway down he hall, she spotted the back of a familiar head–Tara's– talking to a girl she couldn't quiet make out. "Tara!" Beth called out.

Tara started at the sound of her name and swung around to see who had called. When she saw it was Beth, her shoulders slackened. The other girl she had been talking to walked off down the hall, with Tara looking after her.

"Hey Tara!" Beth greeted. She pointed at the retreating figure. "So who was that? I didn't recognize her from the back."

Tara waved her hand dismissively, "Oh her? Sam, but I probably won't be talking to her again."

"Why? Did she do something mean to you?" Beth balled up her fists and threw punches like a boxer with an overly-serious expression that made Tara laugh.

"Sortof, but I'm done with her. She doesn't deserve your attention. How are you feeling by the way?" Tara looked her up and down. "You going to change?"

Beth looked down at herself and nodded. "Yeah I'm good. Can't remember what happened. And I'm actually on my way to the locker room. Wanna come with me?" She looked up to see Tara hesitate, biting her lip.

Tara avoided eye contact as she shook her head. "I actually need to be go pick up my sister's daughter from school."

"Oh! Your sister moved here with her husband then?"

"Yeah, you actually met her. She's Nurse Chambler."

Beth's mouth fell open in a small 'o'. "Oh… I didn't even put one and one to equal two. There's definitely a resemblance. I can't believe I didn't see it."

Tara grinned. "Nah, you weren't really all there. And I should've told you earlier that she got a job here at school. But I need to get going, so I'll see you later?" Tara moved past Beth and looked back. "Oh! And Rosita has your homework, she just went to Abraham's shop –like always. She might still be there though."

"Cool, I'll just drop by there then." Beth waved goodbye to Tara and moved on down the hall to the field. She did wonder who Sam was and what she did to Tara. But if Tara said she dealt with it and didn't want to share, then Beth wouldn't ask.

Beth stepped out of the school and headed up the small slope to the field and the locker room. The wind blew softly as she looked out at the over mowed field and the two white field goals. The field wasn't as fancy as others, but the facilities and equipment they had more than made up for it. Her eyes wandered to the bleachers, expecting them to be empty. Instead she saw the vest with angel wings.

Beth had stopped just in front of the girls locker room, looking at those wings. Should she go and thank him for earlier? She looked down at herself and nodded. "After I change. Definitely after."

Beth ducked into the locker room and changed back into her cowboy boots, lacy pink crop-top and high-waist shorts. She checked her flushed reflection in the mirror and fussed with her hair to not poof as much. Giving up, she gathered her things and left the locker room.

The field was devoid of people, much to Beth's dismay. She had wanted to thank Daryl for carrying her. She must have injured him with her thrashing. Blood rushed to her face. "Oh gosh, what a first impression."

The wind blew softly again, and picked up, startling Beth. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she felt the same foreboding feeling she faintly remembered from her blackout. Her arms instinctively wrapped around herself. "Maybe going to find what's causing this isn't a good idea."

Then the wind whooshed and whipped around her, making her step backward down the hill. The wind grew ice-cold and chilled Beth to her heart. She screamed and fell to her knees. "Stop it. Stop it. STOP IT!" Her voice pitched high and broke. She dropped her books and ran for the building, the very building the ball had gone towards.

She remembered now. She had gone to get the ball, the wind had pushed it into the room. Something in the room wanted her, and she needed to tell it to go screw it. That she wasn't afraid of whatever it was.

The hardwood floor creaked under her feet and she planted there and struck out for the door. As soon as her foot landed, the wind stopped completely; only the warm, familiar wind remained.

Beth halted in front of the worn door, breathing heavily. What was she going to find? Every hair on her body stood on end. She steeled herself and threw the door forward.

A warm breath of air blew into her, like a soft puff. The foreboding feeling vanished almost instantly.

"What is going on?" Beth peeked inside, expecting to see a haunted room and instead seeing a softly lit room from the open door's natural light. The armchairs and bookshelves inside looked sad and unused, but not hostile in the least. It was probably the strangest thing she'd ever experienced.

She gingerly stepped inside the room, looking around once more at the oil lamps and furniture. It was a fairly small room. Probably about nine by nine feet, not large in the slightest. The light made it seem small and a soothing room way back when it was in use.

_Why don't I stay awhile?_

Beth blinked, confusion coloring her features. "What?"

_What's to stop you from staying here for a while? Why not take up a good book?_

Beth's mind blanked, a cool blissfulness coloring her mind. Why didn't she stay? Maybe read a book.

T_here are several to choose from. Try the large, leather one; The purple one in in the middle there._

Beth walked forward past the armchairs and to the bookshelf taking up half of the wall space. Her hand fell on the purple, leather bound book. She pulled it out and it fell open of its own accord in her hand. It was a language, one she had never seen.

_Why don't you read a bit?_

"But I don't know the words…" her voice came out in soft whisper. Beth's heart quickened, the sensation of bliss frightened her. It was like…

_It's okay. You're a smart girl. Sound it out._

Beth mouthed the words, speaking low and softly before she found confidence and depth of voice. _"Consurge tenebris sunt. Dare probation ad infirma. Vivere. Causa chaos atque exitum. Vade, et libera. Absolvo vos!"_ She felt the words tumble from her lips in a voice alien to her own. Her throat burned from it all, each word felt like acid was streaming down her throat.

YES!

Beth's eyes glazed over as the ink evaporated from its pages as blue mist. It shot out in towards the open door; then, all at once, the foreign words stopped, her mind cleared, and the burning sensation left. Beth's mind was blank, reeling. She looked about the room in confusion. It had felt like someone was in the room with her. Had there been?

Beth looked down at the blank-paged book in her hands and stuffed the book back on the shelf, annoyed at herself for coming back.

"Now what did I do that for?" Beth mumbled to herself.

Beth heaved herself into her truck, exhaustion from the day spilling into her. She just wanted to recline the chair and sleep, but she knew she had to get home, or call it at least. Her books had been right where she'd left them, so at least that was good, but she still needed to find Rosita.

She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Rosita. "Leaving school now. Are you still at Abraham's?"

Beth noticed Rosita never responded to the first one about Tara. Though for this text, Beth didn't have much time to close her eyes.

"Yeah, come on over. I have the work you missed."

Beth stretched. "Gotta wake myself up. No point in being down over a few minutes of lost time." Beth turned on the radio to her favorite station and instantly started singing.

"So, SAY Geronimo! SAY Geronimo! SAY Geronimo! SAY Geronimo! SAY Geronimo! SAY Geronimo! SAY Geronimo!"

Beth pulled out of the parking lot, singing all the way to "Geronimo", "Blank Space", and strangely "Sk8er Boy". She hadn't heard Avril Lavigne in what seemed like years. Except for that horrible "Hello Kitty" song put out.

Beth shivered from the memory; it was best to forget that cat-tastrophe. Beth laughed at her own joke. "Have to tell Tara that."

At the next red light she came to, which was the one a block away from Abraham's shop, Beth pulled out her phone and texted Tara about "Sk8er Boy", "Hello Kitty" and her joke. She put Rosita in the message too, thinking she probably wouldn't respond, but being included was nice for anything even remotely small.

The light turned green and Beth turned left down the street and a right after way down into Abraham's shop. It was a small shop, but it was the best in Oykto and the surrounding towns. The outside was painted a camo-green with a white overhead about the entrance. Cars were parked in the lot, either finished and waiting to be taken or new arrivals.

Beth parked a bit away from the cars: one time she parked near a car that was being fixed on, and she came out to find one of the employees under her hood!

She hopped out of her car and strolled in to the shop, bells tinkling overhead.

The front counter part of the shop was clean, but cluttered with everything imaginable further back behind the desk. Beth was no expert and couldn't name of one part of the car besides the steering and driving wheels and the engine. But what kind or model or whatever of the engine eluded her.

Rosita's familiar hat was just in view past a stack of tires. Beth called out, but Rosita didn't turn. "It must be noisy back there."

So Beth walked through the side door to the back of the shop, where magic happened.

Abraham was talking with another co-worker Eugene about the car in front of them. Eugene was a new worker; he had a sortof dopey face with round cheeks and black hair slicked back in a mullet, which had to be tied with a rubber band. His hair looked similar to Abraham's, almost like Eugene had copied the army veteran's slicked back hair out of respect.

The two wore the same standard green jumpsuit used by most mechanics and worked fairly well together. Eugene wiped his sweating face with his oil-stained towel, leaving a black smudge on his forehead.

Abraham had naturally vibrant short, red hair a slightly grown out version of an army haircut. He had been in the army for five years before having to return home from a near fatal injury to his side. Then at twenty-three years old, he took over his father's shop and dived into his work, making it the best shop there was around in only three months.

Rosita had met him the first time when Beth's car broke down on their way to Tara's house. Rosita claimed she could fix the car; she only needed to pop the hood. She worked across the street from Abraham's, and Abraham had somehow seen Rosita working and came over.

Whether he came over to help or watch, he ended up asking Rosita to work for him. His exact words were something more like he needed her. Beth was never quiet sure, but from then on Rosita often went to the shop to help out with cars. Beth and Tara had tried to get it out of her whether or not they were dating, being five years apart.

When they had asked Abraham, he just whispered in Tara's ear. She had turned pale and mumbled that she'd leave them alone.

Beth had tried for hours trying to get her to tell her what he had said to shut him up, even Rosita was curious to know what shut Tara up. But they never found out, and Abraham wouldn't tell.

Now, Beth approached Rosita and greeted her with a warm hello.

Rosita turned to her and smiled warmly. "Hi Beth! How are you feeling?" She rummaged in a tool box next to her and extended it out to Abraham, who had just turned around, mouth almost forming words. He grinned at her as he took the tool and winked.

Beth smiled at their silent exchange, "Oh I'm okay now. Sleep does one good ya know?"

Rosita nodded knowingly. But then her voice dropped, "Sorry for not responding earlier, but I don't know what is up with Tara and the girl Sam. She won't talk to me about that."

Beth pursed her lips in thought, but before she could speak, Abraham threw his tool to the ground and screamed. "GOD DAMMIT EUGENE! STOP OGOLING THE GIRLS AND WORK FOR ONCE!"

Eugene ripped his eyes from Rosita and Beth to stare at Abraham in surprise. His eyes seemed to glaze over, and he said coldly. "So? What if I am?"

Abraham's muscles tensed as he stalked his way around the car. "You damn lethargic ass! You never do anything, now you're thinking of something dirty about Rosita!" Abraham threw a punch at Eugene, who successfully ducked away.

Rosita ran forward, grabbed a crowbar and wielding it like a baseball bat. "Abraham stop! Don't hit him!"

Beth looked between the people in front of her, just minutes before everything had been normal. Abraham yelled at Rosita, Rosita held a crowbar for defense, and Eugene looked bored with at all of it. Nothing was normal.

With the action happening in back, no one heard the door out front swung open with a tinkle.

"He was looking at you." Abraham growled; his muscles bulging. "He'd been doing it to long now."

The hair on the back of Beth's neck stood on end, Abraham lunged for Eugene again and Rosita and Beth screamed. Out of nowhere, a blur shot at for the veteran and tackled him into the car next to them.

The two bodies crashed into the car, indenting the metal. Beth cringed, imagining how that must've hurt. The new arrival was able to pin Abraham down against the car. Abraham struggled but eventually stilled, looking directly at his suppressor with what Beth saw as electric blue eyes.

After the initial shock, Beth noticed the same angel wings of Daryl Dixon. Relief spread throughout her body at the site of them. "It's like he is an angel." Beth whispered to herself.

She stepped closer to Rosita, who had lowered her crowbar. The two girls and Eugene stood in shocked silence.

Eugene turned up his nose and literally threw in his towel. "I'm gone. Bye freak." Eugene walked past Beth on his way out, his eyes flashing a brighter blue than Beth thought possible. A shiver ran down her spine.

Daryl swiveled around and barked. "Stay where you are."

Eugene rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I have to catch the Harry Potter Weekend on ABC."

"Stay!" Something in Daryl's voice, maybe the urgency in his voice, pushed Beth forward to reach out to Eugene and stop his advance to the door. Her hands pressed back against his chest and he looked greedily down at her with electric blue eyes.

The hairs on the back of her neck quivered. "Who are you?"

Eugene opened his smug mouth to answer, but his expression fell and his familiar shocked expression returned. The electricity from his eyes vanished and dulled down to his normal blue. He blinked and looked down at Beth's hands. "Um, Beth? Why are… What's going on?"

Beth's hands dropped. "You don't remember?"

Abraham shoved Daryl away and snorted. "Who the f*** are you? Damn brat shouldn't be barging in the back of my place, getting in the middle of my business."

Abraham rammed into Daryl's shoulder, marching determinably towards Eugene, whose face drained of color and whose mouth fell open. He backed up, tripping over Beth's feet and falling on his rear. Beth instinctively stepped in front of him and held up her hands, hoping he'd stop.

But he didn't, her hands just seemed to act as protective as feathers. Though he did stop, glaring at her as if she was just another obstacle. He grinned down at her, his brown eyes flashing blue. "You want to go too?"

Rosita, who had been standing almost dumbstruck by Abraham's actions, heaved the crowbar up and ran at him screaming. "Get the f*** away from her!" She slammed the crowbar at his shoulder, not wanting to go for the head and risk injuring him.

The look on Abraham's face was a mix of so many things. His face was scrunched up in fury, but then Beth swore she saw something like blue mist slip out from his mouth and dissipated into the air. Abraham's face instantly softened and he looked almost horrified.

Rosita never took her eyes off Abraham's, her hands still gripping the bar tightly. He turned around to look at her, Daryl, the dent in the car, and back to Rosita. "I –" he started but faltered. "I don't know what came over me."

Rosita dropped the crowbar to the floor with a clatter; she stalked out of the workshop with her hat low over her face, Abraham pleading as she left.

**For those who like Abraham or Eugene, I'm sorry that you had to see them as victims, but one can obviously tell they weren't themselves. Please message me and questions and comment on what you thought!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you everyone for the reviews and follows :D Nothing much to say other than what happened yesterday on WD. So sad! (no spoilers for those who haven't gotten around to watching.) It's been a busy week! I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters. **

**Chapter 4**

The door to Abraham's shop crashed open as Rosita stormed out, followed by Beth. Rosita broke into a run and kicked the ground, picking up rocks and throwing them senselessly at cars. She cried out like a wounded animals, her shoulders sagged and she propped herself up against her car, sliding down and leaning against the back tire, head in her hands.

What just happened still didn't make sense to Beth. The guys had been acting totally normal just then; sure Eugene would look at Rosita, Tara, and Beth when they came to hang around, but Abraham never did much but tap Eugene upside the head to knock it off. Abraham saved Eugene from a tough situation a few months back. From that point on, Eugene basically gave every second of the day to the shop, working every day. To think he would storm away like that, or that Abraham blow up at him seemed ridiculous. Then there were the blue eyes, and the mist that came out of Abraham's. Beth shook her head in confusion and sat down next to Rosita, wrapping her arms under her legs.

"Rosita?" Beth asked softly.

Rosita's fingers curled into fist, rubbing away any traces of tears. Rosita breathed deeply before looking at her friend, but as soon as she did her tears returned. "What should I've done? Let him hit Eugene?"

"No, of course not!" Beth scooted closer to Rosita and wrapped an arm around her. "No. Abraham didn't seem like himself just then. He never would have hurt Eugene, or anyone, and I don't think Eugene was like himself either."

Rosita looked at her friend sadly. "Actually he did hurt someone once– Abraham. It happened when I wasn't around, but Eugene told me Abraham lost his temper at a guy… I think it was a long time friend of his… His friend had lied to him about– about … Oh I don't even know!" Rosita buried her face in her hands. "But there are others people have told me; I never see it, but stories have a seed of truth. I just couldn't get the feeling – that Abraham might actually hurt someone– to go away. Now he's gone and done this!"

Beth squeezed Rosita into a hug, letting Rosita cry into her shoulder for as long as she needed.

"I don't want him to hurt himself." Rosita sobbed. "Or others."

Beth wanted to ask what Rosita thought of Abraham now, but she didn't.

Instead –without thinking about it or meaning to– Beth started to hum. A tuneless hum at first, just a string of Do Re Mi's, yet the hum morphed and changed into "Uh, uh, uh, uh, Huh, huh, huh, Uh, uh, uh, uh, Huh, huh, huh." And out of nowhere she started singing.

"Oh I wish I was a doctor, who could heal your broken heart. Analyze each bruise and hear your story from the start. I'd stitch up every tiny tear with a ribbon and a bow. Prescribe you some new medicine that makes you feel less alone."

"No I am not a doctor, just an ordinary girl. But I'd heal the way you chest aches– the way your head swirls. When unbended beat and broken down by the one who knew you best. I'd beat up his sorry butt, and give you a spot to cry on my chest."

Rosita chuckled softly, so Beth kept going.

"No I am not a doctor, but I've got some extra time. I've got some drugs I keep in the stock called chocolate and sparkling wine. Oh, we both know that your not gonna sleep tonight. I am not a doctor, but maybe you could let me try.

"So I put my hand against your head. I recommend that you stay in bed. Your temperature is getting pretty high. Well I hope you're ready to put your drink on ice."

Beth jokingly put the back of her hand against Rosita's forhead. Rosita snorted, mumbling that Beth was weird. But Beth didn't respond to the comment, she was feeling the song's heart beat. It was it's own entity, something to help Rosita, so Beth kept singing.

"No I'll never be a doctor, because I hate science class. My parents liked to say how I pick up new skills pretty fast, yet I bet deep down we both have talents yet to discover, so lets buckle down, get to work, and help you recover.

"So I put my hand against your head, I recommend that you stay in bed. Your temperature is getting pretty high. Let's get you in some fuzzy pjs, and put your drink on ice.

"I could be the doctor you could be the patient. Instead of operation built for children.

"There were things he shouldn't do. Baby girl this night it's all about you. Uh, uh, uh, uh, Huh, huh, huh, Uh, uh, uh, uh, Huh, huh, huh.

"Get better soon."

By the end of her patched up song, Rosita was giggling and hugging Beth back. Rosita looked up at her friend and smiled weakly. "Thanks Beth. What song is that?"

"I just made it up. Not the best… Are you ready to talk? Or do you want to get that drink?" Beth jerked her thumb I the general direction of the grocery store, Oykot Market. "We can get sparkling juice and put it in wine glasses."

Rosita laughed and nodded. "Why not? I need time to think anyway."

Beth nodded and awkwardly got up from her sitting position. "The ground is _so_ not comfortable." She brushed some rocks from her butt.

"Excuse me?"

Beth jumped and nearly stepped on Rosita. She turned around and saw Daryl looking at her questionably. "W-What?"

Daryl shifted from one foot to another. "Can I talk to you? Real quick."

"We can talk like this." For some reason, Beth started getting really nervous. Maybe it was because Daryl had appeared out of nowhere, or the fact she couldn't see his eyes to make sure they weren't electric blue.

Almost like he knew what she was thinking, Daryl combed his bangs back, revealing his face for the first time. He had a smooth face, no facial hair, and dark blue eyes –not electric– and a small beauty mark over his lip. His face colored slightly and he dropped his hair back over his face. "Over there? Where your friend can't hear?" He pointed over to the furthest side of the parking lot where the trees almost reached out to hug it.

Beth looked down to Rosita, silently asking her if it was okay. Rosita hesitated and nodded. "I'll wait in my car, be quick?" Rosita looked hurt, but Beth knew somehow that she needed to know.

"I will, then we'll go get the wine and chocolate and go to the firing range. How bout it?" Rosita silently laughed, which Beth took as a yes.

Beth stepped out from behind the car and walked to the far part of the parking lot. She looked back and saw Daryl looking around the lot as he followed. Rosita was in her car and was curled up in a ball again. Her heart seized, she shouldn't have left her so soon after what happened.

Her steps faltered, making Daryl look at her sharply.

Daryl turned and covered the last few yards between them in a few quick strides and stopped two feet away from Beth. "What did you do after you went to the girls locker room after school?" His words came in a terse, quite tone, but it didn't waver in the slightest.

Beth blanked, wondering where that had come from. "I did something? Um… I came here?"

"No." Daryl said intensely; he stepped closer and spoke in a voice no louder than a whisper. "Did you go back to the abandoned wing again?"

A muddled memory swam back to the forefront of her mind. "Weren't you there though too? I think I remember seeing you there."

Daryl nodded slowly. "I was… but Mrs. Holden yelled at me that I couldn't 'hang there with no supervision'." He imitated Mrs. Holden's voice, adding a high, nasally undertone to sound like a woman.

"Okay…" Beth nodded, confirming in her muddled mind that it was him that was there. "So, I think there was a strange wind." Her eyes stared off into the distance as more of what happened came rushing back in a deluge. "I was almost falling down the hill because of it. I screamed for it to stop. I was freaked out, but I refused to be afraid and I ran down to the building. It was like something _wanted_ me to go there again."

"Again?" Daryl's gruff voice jarred her from the memory. "You had gone there before?"

"…Yeah. I think so… 'again' just came out. Earlier that day when I went to get the ball… I met someone too." Memories from that time mixed in with memories from before as she stringed them together. "Father Gabriel. But I didn't think there was a Father at our school since we made it into a school."

"You met Gabriel?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?" Beth watched Daryl's face curiously, but his eyes were hidden from her, and she could only see his mouth twitch.

Daryl inched closer, seeming a bit uneasy. "Are you _sure_?"

Beth felt assured of her memories as they solidified in her mind. "_Yes._ I'm sure. That's what he said. He had told be before that to not come back. He threatened to tell the principal about me trespassing, but it's a school. There isn't a restricted third floor corridor with some three headed dog."

Daryl stood back, turning away from her, running a hand through his hair, which revealed his face again. He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned back to her. "Anything else? When you came back the second time?"

Beth shook her head, feeling uneasy at his questioning. "Why should I tell you?"

Daryl looked her over, shaking his head. "Forget it. Go back to your friend." Daryl turned his back, showing her his angel-winged jacket.

"How could I forget?" Beth exploded. "I don't want to. I can't! I know something happened then, and just now in that shop with Abraham and Eugene having bright blue eyes! Abraham doesn't even _have_ blue eyes. They looked neon blue! It's freaking me out!"

Daryl stopped, looking back at her in surprise. "What did you say? You still remember?"

"Of course I do!" Beth said exasperatedly. "Well I do now! I forgot what I was doing in that weird room, but I know something happened!"

Daryl looked around and lightly ran back to her, stopping an inch away from her ear. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear. "Sorry, but we'd need to talk somewhere else about that. They might hear."

Beth mimicked his tone, yet fear still crept into her voice. "Who?"

"Later. Let's meet at the school in the abandoned wing. At two o'clock, don't worry about tripping any alarms. I'll answer any question you've got."

"Two in the morning?" Beth whispered questionably.

Daryl's mouth twitched up slightly. "Problem? Didn't think answers needed to come at daylight."

"What if I don't want to come?" Beth countered. She had just met him that day, now she was going to meet him at an ungodly hour? Alone? He didn't say, but it was a just assumption if they were talking about the blue eyes, who'd even believe her?

Daryl shrugged and fiddled with the zipper on his vest. "Then I guess you'll never know." Daryl took a step back towards the woods behind them. "Two o'clock. Come if you want some answers."

With that, Daryl slipped away and disappeared into the woods behind Beth. She watched him as he silently vanished into the woods.

Beth could feel her head beating rapidly in her chest. Daryl really made her head whirl with being so cryptic and showing up out of the blue. She didn't even get to thank him for earlier.

Beth shook her head at herself. "Not going. Way to weird."

Yet even as she said it, she felt unsure. There were too many things she didn't know about what happened. She'd blacked out and lost her memories _twice_. Then there was what had just happened with Abraham and Eugene.

The thought of them brought Rosita to the forefront of her mind. Beth turned to look at Rosita's car, where she knew her friend was waiting for her to get back.

"Whatever I do later, Rosita is first." Beth muttered to herself, to finalize what she needed to do. Making sure her friend was okay came first.

**Daryl kinda seems stalker-ish, and it'll seem less stalker-ish once we know more about him, which'll be in chapter 6. Tell me what you think! Reading the comments always is wonderful!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey Everyone! Busy last few days, school and everything! But anyways, here's the chapter! Let me know what you think! I do not own the characters of the Walking Dead.**

**Chapter 5**

Rosita and Beth dropped Beth's car off at Rosita's house before heading downtown to the Oykot Market. The whole way there, Beth was singing obnoxiously to the songs on the radio. Rosita mainly laughed at her and didn't join in till "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green came on the radio. She put in every swear word and acted like she was Cee Lo Green, which Beth found totally strange and out of character for her! Usually it was Beth and Tara that would do that while Rosita laughed at them or rolled her eyes.

When Rosita sharply pulled in the lot still singing to "Forget You", Beth was almost 100% sure she just needed some sort of distraction from thinking.

Oykot Market was a decent sized store with a brick outside and blue colors sprinkled over the outside and inside of the store with banners and signs. A good friend of hers, Jimmy worked for a year before being hired by her dad.

"So…" Beth started slowly, watching Rosita as she hooked her purse on her shoulder for a reaction. Rosita glanced at her, eyes giving away that she wasn't ready, which Beth instantly picked up on. "Movie section or food first? I'm pretty sure we've watched all the movies at both yours and my house."

Rosita rolled like she always did. "How about…" she paused, thinking of the movies she wanted to see and what food she had back home. It was just Rosita and her mom there, and her mom often worked nights at the hospital for the time being. "Order pizza, Hawaiian sound good?"

"Definitely. I can call and it'd probably be ready by the time we're done here." Beth pulled out her phone and searched her contacts absentmindedly for her favorite pizza parlor. "You have popcorn at home?"

"I think so. Let's head in." Rosita and Beth clambered out of Rosita's car and headed inside, the doors opened and blasted them with cold air.

Rosita walked off to the left to grab a hand basket; Beth stretched, arching her back. "Mmm! That felt good." Her shirt lifted, without her meaning to. When the doors opened a moment later, it sent a blast of air at her exposed back. Beth instantly put her arms down and tugged at her shirt, she forgot why she had ever bought it really– it wasn't really functional.

"Beth? Well look at you." Beth instantly recognized the male voice of the police Deputy Rick Grimes.

Beth turned, Rosita walked back over, her face blank. Rick, and his partner at the time Shawn, had arrested a man outside of Abraham's shop once, not leaving a good impression of them. The man they arrested had escaped from Rick and ran for Abraham's shop, which he got to through the big window outside with a hand from Shane. Though Shane had transferred and Rick was reasonably well adored, Rosita still didn't like him much.

"Hi Rick." Beth greeted, turning around and waving. "How's life?"

Rick sauntered in, still dressed in his navy blue police officer uniform and armed. His weary eyes smiled as he waved back. "A bit stressful, but that's just how it is. Hello Rosita, how are you?"

"Been better." Rosita replied tersely.

Rick nodded with pursed lips. "I get that." He looked between the two girls, seeming to hesitate; then he blurted out. "WhatshouldIgetawomanforherbirthday?"

"What?" Rosita asked, tilting her head to the side like she was going to slap him depending on his answer. "Did you say: 'Why is it men always get their way?'"

"No! That statement would be true for women in most social situations." Rick ran his fingers through his hair, eyes fixated on the ground. "I need to pick a gift out for a colleague of mine… any ideas?" He looked pointedly at Beth.

Beth's mind instantly jumped to Michonne, the newest officer on the force since Shawn left. Michonne was of African-American decent and she had her hair in dreads most of the time despite Chief Lerner being not too pleased with them, thought Michonne more than made up for it with her perfect police work.

"Michonne?" Beth asked, already knowing Rick would nod, which he did.

Rick nodded. "Do you know her at all?"

Beth shrugged lightly. "If I had to ask someone what she'd like, I'd probably go to you, or Carl. Whenever I saw her first, she'd never wave back at me, but I've gotten a wave out of her recently." Beth grinned: slightly proud of the accomplishment.

Rosita snorted lightly and patted Beth on the head. "Baby steps."

"I know she's a bit reserved, but I thought a gift would make her smile a bit." Rick shuffled his feet, almost jumping out of the way as a man walked in behind him. Rick walked a few steps away towards the Market's windows, Beth and Rosita following him.

Rosita looked at his curiously. "You came to Oykot Market for a gift?"

If Beth hadn't known Rosita so long, she would have thought that question had the undertone of 'you can't be that dense'. But Beth had the feeling that Rosita was genuinely asking about his thought process.

"Um… I've never seen her wear jewelry or read a book –with the title visible anyway. Nor have I seen her have an interest in much of anything." Rick pinched the bridge of his nose again. "You see where I'm coming from?"

Rosita and Beth nodded slowly.

"What _have –"_

"Then–"

Beth and Rosita glanced at each other, smiling slightly. Rosita waved her hand in a 'go ahead' way.

" What've you seen her interested in?" Beth crossed her arms as Rick snapped his fingers.

Rick paused, thinking hard and going back into his memories of his co-worker. He snapped his finger excitedly. "Art! I noticed her looking at a art museum brochure a couple of times." Rick looked about as proud of himself as Beth had a few moments ago.

Beth clapped her hands together. "Oh! There's an old thrift shop a few doors down that I know has some cool paintings and small sculptures."

Rick beamed. "Perfect."

"Wait." Rosita held up a hand. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Rick breathed out, his shoulders lax with a smile spreading across his face.

"If you rarely talk to her to the point of asking two high school girls what to get a woman, then why are you doing this at all?"

Rick paused, looking at Rosita with a mixture of thoughtfulness and confusion. "I see Michonne every day. I say hello, and sometimes I get hello back. It's true I don't know her well, but that doesn't mean I don't hope to soon."

For a few beats, Rosita did nothing. Then she nodded once and half turned to head into the store. Almost as an afterthought, she mumbled. "I see her with cat hair on her sometimes."

It was like Rick was a little boy being offered candy. "Thanks Rosita." He smiled at Beth, waving goodbye before walking fast towards the exit door. By the time Beth saw him through the window, he was practically holding back from running down to the antique shop.

Beth turned around, going to mention it to Rosita, but she had vanished. "Rosita?" Beth called out a bit louder than a school appropriate "inside voice". She heard a response a little ways to her right past the cabbage display.

Under the number 4 isle, which held candy and the like, Beth found Rosita walking back to her with a hand basket full of different candies.

Rosita opened the basket for Beth to see. "I've got Swedish Fish and Skittles for you, and some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Then there was Nutella, so I grabbed that too." Rosita looked up from the basket at Beth. "Anything else?"

"Sparkling juice." Beth said with a straight face.

The corner of Rosita's mouth twitched up. "Sure, I have some wine glasses at home."

"I'll go get them! I've seen them before. How about you go pick out the movies?"

"Are you sure about that? Last movie I picked you hardly watched."

"It was scary! I can only watch those things if I laugh at them, and you hate that."

Rosita smiled fully, shaking her head and looking at the blue painted ceiling of the store. "Wow, you're really sticking with this?"

Beth smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm weird that way."

"Have it your way." Rosita headed off in the direction of the movie selection, Beth trailing behind her. Rosita glanced back. "Let's go find something."

"And Rosita?" Beth called out.

"Yeah?" Rosita's back was to her, and it looked tense: her shoulders were scrunched together and shuddered when she breathed, and she held her elbows close to her side.

"That was nice –what you said to Rick. The thing with the cat hair."

Rosita shrugged absentmindedly, loosening her shoulders as she approached the movie selection. "He would've noticed it eventually." Though she had a nonchalant attitude about it, Beth saw a ghost of a smile on her friend's face.

When the two girls got home to Rosita's, it was close to five o'clock. Rosita's home was a small white wooden house and gray tiled roofing; the inside was a light palate and comfortable sofas and chairs.

Rosita walked through the living room to reach the kitchen; she threw open the cupboards and pulled out popcorn and the wine glasses. "This is weird."

Beth looked up from her phone, grocery bags in hands, she had just called for the pizza, so it would show up at Rosita's in about thirty minutes. "That we're drinking out of wine glasses?" Beth asked, putting the candy and bottle of sparkling juice on the counter. She screwed the top off of the bottle and set it on the counter.

"Mostly, I guess…" Rosita took the wine glasses down from a cabinet and handed two to Beth.

Beth handed Rosita a glass and pour her some juice. "What else then?"

The juice in the glass swirled as Rosita tilted it one way, then another. Rosita shook her head slowly and sighed. "I just don't know."

Beth poured herself a glass, setting the glass down on the counter immediately. "Well I know you're not acting like yourself. If I asked out that yesterday you'd snort or roll your eyes or –or smile and say nothing. But I don't think Abraham was acting like himself either." Beth tried to make eye contact with Rosita, but she didn't lift her eyes from the juice.

Then Rosita's eyebrows furrowed together. "… No. He didn't act like himself, but it doesn't mean that he's just been hiding that from me. I don't even know if we're going out."

Beth bit her lip, bordering on asking Rosita something. "Rosita? Those stories you heard about Abraham beating people up, did you ask him about them?"

Rosita shook her head.

"Then why did you let even a seed of doubt enter?" Beth took Rosita's free hand. "Even if those stories have a nugget of truth, you don't know the whole story– you don't have enough information to make a judgment on someone. You need to make that opinion each and every day, because people are constantly changing Rosita. No one stays stagnant."

Rosita looked up at her, eyes welling up but a soft smile on her face. "Beth…" That was all that was said as Rosita pulled Beth into a hard hug.

Beth wrapped her arms around Rosita and rested her chin on her shoulder; Rosita rested her cheek on Beth's head.

If the house wasn't so quiet, or if Beth hadn't been listening, then Beth would have missed Rosita's whispered. "Thank you."

**I hope you guys liked the chapter! You get to see Beth and Rosita interact as friends, and a bit of Daryl and Beth interacting :) He'll show up again in the next chapter, which will explain some things! Please tell me what you think! Like, Follow, etc.!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Busy busy week. Let me tell you! Not really thought ;) Hope you guys like it! I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters.**

**Chapter 6**

The two best friends, clad in flannel pajamas, laid sprawled on the living room floor wrapped in blankets and surrounded by popcorn, candy, and a half eaten pizza. The TV glowed softly, showing the newly weds Mr. and Mrs. Darcy kiss in their carriage. The credits rolled down, casting light onto Beth and Rosita's still forms. Rosita's fortitude of blankets rose and fell softly while Beth's hung around her shoulders as she watched the ending of _Pride and Prejudice._

Beth blinked tiredly, she had stayed up through the last eight hours watching movies and eating food. Before watching Beth's choice of the BBC mini series of _Pride and Prejudice, _the girls watched Rosita's choice of _Saving Private Ryan _–Beth had sobbed loudly throughout the movie, needing to muffle her cries into her blanket.

Beth got up to her knees, shuffling forward to hit the power button on the TV. It clicked off, and Beth was left squeezing her eyes shut and her head felt heavy. The clock read 1:31 am.

Beth looked back at Rosita, who was buried under her blankets like a turtle retracted in its shell. Her thoughts went to earlier, Rosita being quiet and reserved as they watched the movies in silence. Beth hadn't asked her once how she was feeling after they had hugged, and Rosita didn't say a word about it, just about the actors and the movies they were watching.

"Abraham…" Beth mumbled. What _had _happened to him? Whatever the blue mist and eyes was, it somehow made Abraham act like a jerk.

With renewed energy, Beth stood up and shook off her blankets. Beth looked down at her rumpled plaid pattern pajamas and debated whether or not she should change.

In the end, Beth was in her truck, still in the plaid pajamas, and wearing light jean jacket and her boots for a bit of extra warmth. She had left a note on the kitchen table in case Rosita woke up.

The truck silently roared to life at the turn of her key, Beth backed out and crept down the street, gaining speed the further she went from Rosita's. When Rosita's house went out of sight and she turned into town, Beth relaxed, leaning against her seat a bit.

She passed Oykot Market and Bank of America and came to a stop at a red light. Beth strummed her fingers on her wheel and realized that she had been driving with her headlights off. Quickly, she switched them on, looking around to see if anyone had noticed, which someone had, a parked police car whose lights turned on.

Beth moved forward as the light turned green, and moved forward to park in front of Woodbury Woodworkings. She parked and riffled through her information for the necessary license and registration.

Beth leaned back in her seat and watched the police car park behind her and two figures come out and circle to the driver's side window. She stifled a laugh as she recognized the familiar figures of Rick and Michonne in the car. She rolled down her windows and wrapped her jacket tightly around herself.

"Well hello there officers." Beth said fake and sweetly. "What can I help you with."

Rick's grinning face appeared outside her rolled down window. He jokingly spoke in a deeper, surly voice. "Why you can tell us why a little lady like yourself is out so late, and without her lights on."

Beth laughed lightly, dropping the sweet, fake voice. "Sorry Rick. I forgot to turn my lights on."

Rick looked at her hard; he huffed, pointed his finger at her, and spoke in a deeper tone. "This will be a warning, okay?"

Beth nodded. "Okay. So…" Beth dropped her voice, even thought the person in question she was asking about was in the car. "What did you end up getting her?"

Rick glanced towards the car and back at Beth with a smile. "Actually, instead I thought I could whittle her something. A cat statue, something easy like one of those Halloween cats."

"Aw, that's sweet! You're a great whittler, dad still has that bear you made him."

Rick smiled and nodded. "That's good to hear. I'm glad." Rick made a move to leave but turned back, his hand making waving gestures as he thought. "Do… you think… I should paint the cat?"

"Um… why not? What color were you thinking?" Beth was pleased about Rick's interest in Michonne; his girlfriend Lori had turned into a witch and flew out of town, and that experience left Rick reserved for years.

Rick beamed, answering almost instantly. "Bright colors, maybe a patchwork pattern."

Beth nodded her approval. "She'll love it."

"She'll love what?"

The two whisperers jumped at the voice of Michonne, who approached hesitantly. She had come out of the car, wondering what Rick was doing talking to the person.

"Hi Michonne." Beth greeted, trying to act nonchalant. "I was talking about this surprise for Rosita, I got her candy."

Michonne raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Alright…" She glanced at Rick then back to Beth. "I'll go wait in the car then."

"Ah- no need to. We're done here. Nice seeing you Beth!" Rick gave a wave and followed Michonne back into the squad car. He put his hand on her shoulder briefly and whispered something Beth couldn't catch.

Instead of dawdling longer, Beth put her car in drive and made sure her headlights were on before taking off. "He's gonna have a tough time breaking her shell." Beth said to herself. "But I guess that'll be the best, cause they'll be getting to know each other one day at a time."

Beth smiled, thinking about Rick and Michonne, hoping they'd get to know each other and get together, which brought her to thinking of how little she knew of Daryl. That thought alone almost had her turning her truck around to talk to Rick and Michonne about what was really going on.

"What if he's… can't think like that." Beth shook her head and the negative thoughts away. If she wanted to, she could have stayed sprawled on Rosita's floor till morning, but she didn't. She needed answers. "Besides, Daryl didn't seem too bad…" Beth groaned; she was going to drive herself in circles.

"Okay!" she whispered harshly to herself. "He doesn't have blue eyes –well he does, not electric spooky blue eyes. He doesn't have an ulterior motive that I can see. He doesn't know … I have a Maggie's softball bat in my truck from our softball unit."

Just talking aloud calmed Beth down –that and the fact she had her sister's bat with her. For once, she was glad of her habit to leave things in her truck for months.

Beth turned into the lot nearer to the field than the lot near the Quad, it was a smaller lot, used typically for teachers or busses during the school day.

The school looked otherworldly at night, the moonlight threw shadows on the walls and the windows were pitch black. The place looked more like the home of Dracula at night.

Beth's heart pounded harder in her chest as she parked and took her keys out. She looked over the building, then over the abandoned wing, which looked just as foreboding as the school. "Oh gosh… to late to go back?" She hadn't meant to say it like a question, but she got an answer.

"There's always an out." Came a raspy male voice of a smoker. Beth whirled around to stare out the passenger-side window, where a guy stood leaning against the doorframe. His sudden appearance made her heart beat race. "But you wouldn't feel very proud of yourself, now would you?"

The guy looked a bit older than Beth with his head shaved. He wasn't Daryl, and she didn't know him. It was only until he raised his right arm above his head to rest parallel to the door's frame that she noticed the prosthetic arm and remembered Tara mentioning a brother.

"You're… Daryl's brother? Merle?" Beth asked attentively, leaning just a bit away from him, even though he couldn't reach her with the window up.

Merle's mouth twitched as he made a click with his tongue. "Yup. That's me, Daryl's big brother." He pushed away from the passenger side and walked around the front of the car.

Beth watched him silently, she wasn't sure if she could breath correctly. Merle was at her side mirror, gesturing behind him and saying something she couldn't quite catch.

"W-What did you say?"

Merle's neck muscles buldged out for a moment, then returned to normal as he spoke through his teeth. "We're late. Come on." Merle sauntered off, not looking back to see if Beth was following, muttering something under his breath.

Beth tittered in her seat. "Should I stay or should I go?" The music for that same song filtered in through her stressed out state, and Beth relaxed, tapping her foot to the electric guitar in her head. "Darlin' you got to let me know. Should I stay or should I go?" She reached back behind her, feeling around on the floor for her bat. Her fingertips grazed cold metal, and she snatched it up, holding it to her chest as she leapt out of the car to follow Merle –at a safe distance.

Merle didn't turn around to wait for Beth till they had reached the chapel doors of the old church. The doors were ornate, decorated with men and woman who were in a circle with joined hands. Other carvings were of seven circles floating above people's heads. Merle swung the doors open, throwing the carvings from view.

With the doors pushed back, Beth saw the surprisingly clean chapel. The wooden benches were dustless, as were the other pieces of furniture and stained glass. Moonlight fell softly through the windows, casting a soft light on the benches and alter, where Daryl sat before with his back to the doors.

"Daryl!" Merle called loudly, jarring Beth from appreciating the room and Daryl from his thoughts. "I saw your girl out front, so I brought her."

Daryl's body tensed at his name. He stayed head bent, for a moment longer before slowly raising his head and looking back at the new arrivals. He walked slowly towards them, hands shoved I his pant pockets. Merle passed him, heading for the alter himself. He knelt down and bowed his head; Daryl glanced at him sideways before his eyes flickered to rest on Beth. He came right up in front of her and whispered low under his breath. "You okay?"

Beth hugged the bat to her a bit tighter and whispered back. "Merle kind of scared the heck outta be in the lot. He jumped outta nowhere!"

Daryl grimaced. "Sorry… Merle can be surprising; it's what he likes to do to others. But you came, so that means you want answers right?"

The numerous amounts of questions flew around her head, so many that her mouth could only hang open.

Daryl nodded understandingly. "That was what I did too."

"Too? What do you mean?" Her voice dropped. "The weird blue eye thing?"

Daryl shuffled his feet and looked around him. "Not exactly… Merle and I were… I'm not the best to explain this." A comforting hand appeared on Daryl's shoulder. "But Gabriel can."

Beth stepped back, bat at the ready at the sudden appearance of the creepy Father Gabriel. The Father smiled sympathetically, hands up. "My apologizes. My sudden appearances do tend to take others by surprise."

Beth didn't lower the bat. "You do it often? The appearing disappearing thing?"

Father Gabriel shrugged. "No. Only recently." He clasped his hands behind his back and turned to Daryl. "So why is Beth here?"

Daryl shifted nervously and Merle came back to join his brother and the Father. Merle smacked a hand on Daryl's back and gave a scraggily laugh. "Cause he fancies her."

"No… She needs answers. Father Gabriel–" Daryl leaned into Father Gabriel and whispered quickly in his ear.

Beth watched, unconsciously lowering the bat as Father Gabriel's face went from a passive calm and mixed with surprise and astonishment. He took a step towards Beth, concern coloring his features.

"My child… I'm so sorry for what you must have gone through. You could have been taken, or pass on." He stepped forward and opened his arms as if to embrace Beth.

Merle rolled his eyes. "She wouldn't've died."

Father Gabriel shook his head. "Child, you've yet to know the depths of those sins. They would have easily overheated her mind."

"Stop that!" Beth hollered, brandishing the ball. "What in the _heck_ are you talking about? I came here to get _answers_! You're just making more questions! What do you mean I would've died?"

Daryl stepped around Father Gabriel and lightly pushed the bat down with a finger. "Breath Beth. Take a second and breath... okay? I didn't consult them about asking you to come tonight." The bat was down by Beth's feet as she locked eyes with Daryl's deep blue ones through his dark hair.

"Why?" Beth gulped, suddenly feeling her throat was dry and a turning in her stomach –not that feeling to run, but a different kind.

Father Gabriel clasped his hands and looked almost solemn, but Merle sighed and took a step towards her. "Listen, that book, do ya remember that?"

The connection was lost as Daryl jerked his head away from her. Beth focused on Merle, nodding her head.

"That book was basically a 'release-the-sins-from-their-bonds' thing. When you were releasing them, you were probably close to overheating and basically becoming dust. You almost died because you lifted the seal somehow that Father Gabriel set millennium ago. So, great job there blondie." He sneered slightly and gave a thumbs-up.

"But you didn't." Father Gabriel interjected. "Most likely because, as Daryl told me, you were most likely controlled and tempted twice today. The energy that must have taken probably weakened them."

A cold shiver ran down her body at the mention of 'sins' and she wrapped her arms around herself. "The sins? The seven sins? Like Wrath and Gluttony? What do you mean millennium?" She surveied Father Gabriel up and down.

"And Pride, Sloth, Greed, Envy, and Lust. Yes." Father Gabriel answered. "They have been trapped here since I was sent to keep watch and give my energy to keep normal people away and them trapped beneath the church. And I–"

"How did she get in then?" Merle asked in exasperation. He clenched his one good hand tightly. "How?"

Father Gabriel closed his eyes sadly. "The sins had been collecting energy for the last few century from the settlers and towns folk. Slowly and paitently…"

Beth listened silently to their conversation; finally, she couldn't take it and burst out. "Are you guys crazy? You're talking gibberish! What do you mean centuries? What do you mean millennium?" Beth reiterated; her heartbeat quickened and her arms and legs shook.

Daryl held his hands up. "I know it seems that way, but it's not. Father Gabriel is an angel who was-"

"An angel? Sins. Angels. What? You're kidding, joking. It's some joke right?" Beth looked desperately between the men, meeting pitying eyes. "This can't be real."

Daryl's shoulder caved in and he shook his head to the floor. "I'm sorry Beth. It's not… I wish it were. But you don't have to get any more involved then you already are. I'm sorry I suggested it to you. What was released– what tempted and controlled you to release them– were the seven sins. They're not your problem, but I felt you needed to know."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"The sins could've been watching. And besides, would you have believed me?" Daryl looked up at her, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Merle slammed his fist on one of the benches. "Dammit, who cares! We have seven sins flying around making the people their worst. If we don't nip this in the bud they could have enough energy to spread."

Father Gabriel held his hand above Merle's shoulder, almost touching him, but not quiet. "Merle, child, be calm. We can if we work together."

Merle looked up at Father Gabriel, his face twisted with worry. "How _can _we? We can't _see_ the damn things to _know_ who's been taken over. I'm not even sure how to get them out without beating them out from physical harm. I can't go around doing that to people in town!"

Beth looked at Merle and Father Gabriel in surprise. "You can't see them? Their eyes. They're blue!" Beth looked at Daryl as he pursed his lips together.

Father Gabriel and Merle looked over at her in mild surprise. Merle turned to Daryl. "Can she?"

Merle stepped forward to Beth, glancing sidelong at Daryl. "_Can_ she? Why didn't you say so?"

"Because we can't put a civilian at risk, Merle." Father Gabirel said, stepping between the two brothers.

"You knew too?" Merle snorted and stepped away in almost disgust. "Why can't we use her?"

Beth had been silently watching the men converse, watching their positions and mood changes. So she had somehow released the seven sins, and they were now out there causing havoc. They had already screwed with Rosita. Anger towards what the sins had caused rose up inside of Beth. "I'll help."

The bickering between the three men stopped as they turned to watch her.

"I want to help. You won't say no if I agree right?"

Father Gabriel slowly nodded gravely. "It gives me no pleasure. I do not wish to put you at risk."

"Tell me everything –from the beginning."

Father Gabriel nodded, he gestured towards the benches so they might sit. It was going to be a long night.

**How'd you guys like it? Tell me what you think! It's still unclear as to everything(like the angel stuff and how the brothers know –which'll be explained in due time), and Beth will rehash the what happened in the next chapter, like spark notes :) Please review and tell me what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**It was a long week, so I'm sorry it took so long to post! I hope you guys like this chapter :) I do not own the Walking Dead.**

**Chapter 7**

A shiver ran down Beth's spine that had nothing to do with the cold. She was sitting in the midst of a church at roughly 2:30 in the morning talking to a supposed angel and two brothers who had almost driven her off the road earlier that day- actually yesterday.

Beth agitatedly played with the metal bat, spinning the butt on the floor.

"Millennium ago, there was a battle over the earth between Heaven and Hell… Hell was seeping into the water they drank and the air they breathed. The humans couldn't escape it and became crazed, unhinged. My brethren and I were tasked to plug up the cracks hell made between the rifts."

"There's a Heaven and Hell?" Beth asked, not knowing when to interrupt him. She smiled apologetically and Father Gabriel smiled back. "And what's the rift?"

"The rift," Merle grunted. "Is what divides Hell, Heaven, and Earth from each other. And yeah, there's a Heaven and Hell. Other places too that we don't know about, but the rift is what keeps us apart. When things cross over, things turn to shit."

Daryl nodded, only nodded, but he looked like he wanted to say something else. Father Gabriel had his eyes on him, like he was expecting him to say something. When Daryl looked down at his hands Father Gabriel looked back at Beth.

"Yes, that is what basically the rift is. Thank you Merle." He nodded to Merle even though he wouldn't see the nod.

"And you're an angel?" Beth raised an eyebrow.

Father Gabriel smiled and then he wasn't sitting in front of Beth. Beth looked where he had been and looked around widely. Father Gabriel chuckled; hearing him, Beth looked up towards the pulpit where Father Gabriel –or Angel Gabriel– was laughing. He walked back to where he had been. Beth stared at him in awe while Merle rolled his eyes and took out his ipod and earbuds; He laid down on the benches out of sight. Daryl shook his head at Gabriel, but he was smiling.

Beth shook her head in amazement. "So Father Gabriel, Angel Gabriel?"

"Just Gabriel if you want. Neither of these boys seem to want to though." Father said with a smirk as he settled back into the spot he on the bench. "But Heaven and Hell are not filed with angels and devils, exactly. Angels and devils were the original inhabitants, but the majority of the worlds are made up of human souls. For example, when you will pass on Beth, your soul will travel to the rift and pass through and be pulled into one of the realms."

"Well how can the souls go through the rift is its suppose to keep us separate?" Beth asked.

Father Gabriel pressed his palms together and interlaced his fingers. "The soul can become restless if left on earth; the rift lets it through because the soul is no threat, and from there, the soul can roam between the rift before being pulled into Heaven or Hell. There's no set good or bad within a soul that makes it go to Heaven or Hell, but is a soul is astronomically one or the other, then it might gravitate towards the –I suppose aura would be the right word- aura of the world."

"So if you're a happy person, you'll go towards Heaven most likely." Daryl faintly said. "Same for if you were a jerk, to Hell."

Father Gabriel nodded. "Yes, good. Back to after we had blocked up the holes. We had thought the hatred from Hell would have evaporated in a sense, but it hadn't. The levels rose and rose. The humans had taken in to much anger and hatred from hell to expel it or fight it off. So we had decided to take the Hatred out ourselves and throw it into Hell. What we hadn't expected was the immense feelings of hatred to clot into separate beings of concentrated entities of Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Pride, and Gluttony. They are still present today, because eradicating all of the contamination would be impossible, also because humans were leaning to discovering those very natures. But we had to take the excess away or it would have very well killed the human race…" Father Gabriel looked into his clasped hands, his words spilling out. "We had taken them, and plugged them under a new hole under where the church was and hoped they would travel into the rift then into hell. Some of my brethren had gone with them to try to tug them along…"

A terrible feeling gripped Beth. "Then what?"

Father Gabriel's eyes glazed over and his voice hitched. "It didn't work. The sins broke back through and attacked those angels who were left on Earth. Putting them back into the rift then was to risky, so those of us who were able sealed them into the earth and blessed the perimeter around the area to keep them from moving. Millennium later, I encouraged a church to be built here."

"How long have you been here?"

"Too long…"

"And the other angels? Where are they now?" Beth saw from the expressions of Daryl and Father Gabriel that the answer wasn't good. "Leave it for another day then… So what do we do about the sins now?"

Merle sat up slowly, pulling the earbuds from his ears and looked at the three of them. "We're gonna hunt those f***ing things down and trap them before they can hurt anyone."

Rosita and Abraham came back into the forefront of Beth's mind. She was going to hunt those damn sins down and lock them up.

Beth felt like her head was going to either split or fall the hard ground of the Quad. She had gotten back to Rosita's –with donuts, a perfect excuse- at five in the morning. Which was lucky since Rosita had woken up as Beth got in.

Beth had spent over two hours just talking to Father Gabriel while Daryl sat silently and Merle fumed.

Father Gabriel was an angel, a bona-fide angel. He told Beth before she left that the sins, were locked away under the church, concentrated specifically under the room Beth had been lured to. It was a sort of temptation the sins can influence over a mortal, but only together, which was fortunate since the sins had a history of not getting along.

Merle had interrupted at that point, describing them as "bickering, whinnying siblings."

Beth had laughed at that, but Daryl and Father Gabriel turned grim. Even with Beth being able to see the sins, it seemed like the business of hunting them down would be another story.

Beth's head throbbed from her sleepless night, and she wanted to go to bed –desperately. But the knowledge for last night –actually that morning- was running through her head.

"Was it really this morning?" She mumbled to herself.

Three sets of legs came into view and sat around her. Tara and Sasha were across from Beth; she turned her head to the side and smiled weakly at Rosita. Rosita rolled her eyes at her but smiled back anyway. "Yes Beth, it's morning."

Tara looked up from rummaging in her backpack. "What 'bout this morning?"

Sasha ran her fingers through her surly black hair to get it back into a ponytail, grumbling about having to do it for woodshop class later that day. Sasha looked Beth over. "Probably cause she looks like she never slept."

Beth nodded and almost fell asleep right there. "Yeah… I never got to sleep last night." Beth scooted closer to the tree to her left and leaned against it.

Tara paused from looking through her backpack. She looked from Beth to Rosita, then she looked hard at Beth's shirt, Rosita's only pink camouflage tank-top on lend for the day because Beth hadn't gotten the chance to head home. Rosita had driven them to school because she didn't trust Beth behind the wheel.

Tara's jaw clenched and unclenched silently she zipped up her backpack and got to her feet in a hurry. "I forgot I needed to talk to a teacher." She spat out before she hurried away.

The three girls looked after her in confusion. Sasha looked back at Rosita and Beth and pressed her lips together. Rosita raised her eyebrows at Sasha and asked. "What do you know?"

Sasha looked between the two of them. "I know Tara; we grew up together basically. She's been with you guys so much so that I think she thinks of the three of us as her… best friends. As her best friends… as any best friend, you'd tell them what's troubling you, right?" Sasha pursed her lips for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. "I think that Tara thinks you two left her out of something."

Beth's half-awake state sharpened to fully awake. "We'd never do that!"

Sasha looked at her blankly. "Then why are you wearing Rosita's shirt?"

Rosita groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Aw shit… she thinks we had a sleepover without her?"

Beth's insides went cold. "Oh no…" She had been so concerned with Rosita and the blue eyes to even think about calling Tara to say what happened with Abraham.

"We should set this right." Beth leaned away from the tree and made a grab for her stuff.

Rosita put her hand on Beth's. "I'll tell her okay? But please come."

Beth smiled meekly. "Of course."

"And Sasha?" Rosita looked over at the girl. "I still have trouble with people… and something happened yesterday that hurt that trust I've built with Tara and Beth… I should have trusted you too."

Tears glazed over Sasha's eyes as a smile broke over her face. "I'm sorry I didn't get to know you better, and that I wrote you off as sullen and reserved. Everyone has their reasons."

Rosita actually laughed at that, an uncontrollable laugh that shook her entire body. "Ah- hahaha! I know that I can seem that way… Let's go. We don't want our Tara to sulk too long."

Beth wanted to hug them both. Her friends weren't perfect, but they sure as heck would work their issues out.

The three girls stood and made their way to Mrs. Holden's room, but along the way beth stopped and turned to the other girls. "Hey guys? Instead of heading to class… wouldn't you go to the nurse's office?"

Sasha nodded. "That makes more sense then heading to class… and add that to the fact that her sister is the nurse…"

"We deduced the mystery of where Tara is." Beth declared in her best Sherlock voice.

"Why Holmes!" Sasha said in an incredulous male voice. "However did you deduce that?"

"I have the advantage of knowing her habits my dear Watson. It is elementary."

Rosita looked between the two friends. "Okay Cumber Babes, let's go check that out."

Beth and Sasha laughed and high-fived each other while Rosita smiled at the two of them and led the way to Nurse Chambler's.

Rosita knocked on the door and poked her head in. She turned to the to hers and whispered, "She's not in, but I'm going to check the patient's room." Rosita jerked her chin in a silent direction to follow before slipping in, followed by Beth and Sasha.

The walls were a nice pale blue and wooden floors, like all of the school. Beth and Sasha stayed a few feet in the room while Rosita looked for Tara in the room Beth had been in the other day.

"Hi Tara." Rosita greeted. "Wanna talk?"

Beth and Sasha stepped forward, but Rosita waved them back. So they stayed in the doorway, waiting and listening. Tara was in bed on her stomach; her face turned away from Rosita.

"No." came Tara's muffled reply. "If I do, then I'll sound like a whiny bitch."

"We all are at one point, but we shouldn't be 'cause of not talking to our friends. But if you won't ask, I have something to tell you." Rosita dropped her backpack on the floor and pulled a chair to Tara's bedside. "Yesterday when Beth came to Abraham's shop to get the work she missed… she came in right before Abraham and Eugene started acting… off. Like–" Rosita buried her head in her hands; she pushed her hair back and stared at her lap.

"Abraham went after Eugene for looking at Beth and me. I was going to hit him with a crowbar if he didn't stop… and then Daryl came in and rammed into Abraham before I even had the chance to think about whether I _could_ hit him, but the second Beth stepped in between him and Eugene, I just whipped a crowbar into his shoulder.

"He wasn't himself… he seemed to act surprised, but I don't know what happened. We didn't stick around to find out. I was, distraught, and Beth was there and neither of us could understand what happened. We just headed back to my place, and Beth never let myself wallow or really be alone. She helped a lot; I don't know what I would've done without her there." Rosita looked over to Beth and smiled.

Beth walked into the room and hugged Rosita. Tara's head was turned towards them and her eyes on them.

"But," Rosita continued. "There was no reason for me to forget about you in the events that happened. That was wrong of me."

Rosita finished and three sets of eyes were on Tara's own. Tara lifted herself from the bed and combed her hair back. "That is a good enough reason…" Tara's features hardened and she shook her head. "No, it wasn't." Tara glared at Rosita, who leaned back in her chair in surprise. Beth's mouth fell open, as did Sasha's

"What?" Rosita said, taken-aback by Tara's venomous demeanor.

"It's not a good enough reason to go off with Beth and leave me out of it." Tara spat. "Bitch." Tara flung her feet onto the floor and stormed out of the room, her backpack swinging across her shoulders and nearly knocking into Sasha.

**UPDATE: I CHANGED THE ENDING OF THIS CAUSE IT WASN'T EXCITING AND ALSO IT TRANSITIONS BETTER. :) THANKS TO DARYLDIXON'SLOVER FOR BRINGING THAT TO MY ATTENTION!**

**So, tell me what you think :) comment or ask any questions you've got or if anything was unclear. How they'll be able to track down and more on capturing the sins are next up :)**


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